When you speak about gastritis, you speak about the stomach needing acid to kill the pathogens. The only acidic things that do not hurt my stomach right now are kefirs and orgainic yogurts, and I try to have some with each meal. Is that enough? Things like vinegar, lemon juice, certain fruits, and spices hurt right now.

I read that fat is very irritating to the stomach when you are trying to heal from gastritis- is that all fat? Clearly animal fat is a problem due to the Omega-6's regardless of gastritis. What about nuts...nut butters? I read that olive oil actually encourages the healing of the stomach lining. What is the truth about fat here?

I read of people who seem to have cleared up ulcers without any Rx or herbal antibiotic use. Is that possible by just giving the stomach a break (more fasting) and soothing it with slippery elm or aloe vera? Or, if it is of a viral or bacterial nature, will it just return?

I also had a hormone question. It is in a previous thread that I think got buried, so if you eventually see that one, please ignore....

If my liver is not working well could this chain of events happen due to poor liver function?:

1. I ingest a good amount of phytoestrogens with milk thistle and dandelion root.
2. While these block the stronger estrogens at the receptor sites, those stronger estrogens still need to be processed through the liver- which isn't working very well.
3. There is a net effect of an increase in estrogens in the body- phytoestrogens + my normal estrogen.
4. While the dandelion root and milk thistle enhance my liver function, I need a much stronger clearing effect to lesson my body's estrogen load.
5. When ovulation comes, I pass my threshold for estrogen clearing and I feel worse with the dandelion and milk thistle than if I don't have those phytoestrogens in my body.

Is this possible? Or would my normal estrogens only effect me if they are on recpetors? That is, can they be floating around in my body and not affect anything?

When you speak about gastritis, you speak about the stomach needing acid to kill the pathogens. The only acidic things that do not hurt my stomach right now are kefirs and orgainic yogurts, and I try to have some with each meal. Is that enough? Things like vinegar, lemon juice, certain fruits, and spices hurt right now.

Kefir and truly live culture yogurts are both good since they both help kill pathogens.

I read that fat is very irritating to the stomach when you are trying to heal from gastritis- is that all fat? Clearly animal fat is a problem due to the Omega-6's regardless of gastritis. What about nuts...nut butters? I read that olive oil actually encourages the healing of the stomach lining. What is the truth about fat here?
The only reason I can see that the fats would be an issue other than the obvious increased inflammation from arachidonic acid in some fats would be the slower gastric emptying. This would leave the stomach acidic longer.

I read of people who seem to have cleared up ulcers without any Rx or herbal antibiotic use. Is that possible by just giving the stomach a break (more fasting) and soothing it with slippery elm or aloe vera? Or, if it is of a viral or bacterial nature, will it just return?

The two most common reasons for ulcer formation is H. pylori bacteria or the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). If induced by NSAIDs simply going off the drugs will allow the stomach to heal. If from H. pylori it is not going to heal without intervention.

Some foods though have been shown to help heal ulcers such as cabbage juice or plantain bananas.

Slippery elm s great for helping to protect the stomach. It can be combined with licorice root to help reduce inflammation and promote healing of the ulcer.

I also had a hormone question. It is in a previous thread that I think got buried, so if you eventually see that one, please ignore....

If my liver is not working well could this chain of events happen due to poor liver function?:

1. I ingest a good amount of phytoestrogens with milk thistle and dandelion root.
2. While these block the stronger estrogens at the receptor sites, those stronger estrogens still need to be processed through the liver- which isn't working very well.
3. There is a net effect of an increase in estrogens in the body- phytoestrogens + my normal estrogen.
4. While the dandelion root and milk thistle enhance my liver function, I need a much stronger clearing effect to lesson my body's estrogen load.
5. When ovulation comes, I pass my threshold for estrogen clearing and I feel worse with the dandelion and milk thistle than if I don't have those phytoestrogens in my body.

Is this possible? Or would my normal estrogens only effect me if they are on recpetors? That is, can they be floating around in my body and not affect anything?

Unless the estrogens latch on to estrogen receptors they have no effect on the body. This is why phytoestrogens such as those from soy, red clover, flax seed, etc. help prevent the side effects of estrogens. Since they lock up estrogen receptors they prevent actual estrogens from harming the body.

As for the milk thistle and dandelion, these are supportive to the liver but do not cleanse the liver unless being used as bitters.

If my liver is not working well could this chain of events happen due to poor liver function?:

1. I ingest a good amount of phytoestrogens with milk thistle and dandelion root.
2. While these block the stronger estrogens at the receptor sites, those stronger estrogens still need to be processed through the liver- which isn't working very well.
3. There is a net effect of an increase in estrogens in the body- phytoestrogens + my normal estrogen.
4. While the dandelion root and milk thistle enhance my liver function, I need a much stronger clearing effect to lesson my body's estrogen load.
5. When ovulation comes, I pass my threshold for estrogen clearing and I feel worse with the dandelion and milk thistle than if I don't have those phytoestrogens in my body.

Is this possible? Or would my normal estrogens only effect me if they are on recpetors? That is, can they be floating around in my body and not affect anything?

Unless the estrogens latch on to estrogen receptors they have no effect on the body. This is why phytoestrogens such as those from soy, red clover, flax seed, etc. help prevent the side effects of estrogens. Since they lock up estrogen receptors they prevent actual estrogens from harming the body.

As for the milk thistle and dandelion, these are supportive to the liver but do not cleanse the liver unless being used as bitters.

Thank you!

You're welcome.
[/quote]

What if I have estrogen dominance, but my estrogen levels themselves are low. If I take a lot of phytoestrogens, I do add to my estrogen load. Is it possible, if my liver is weak, to surpass my liver's clearning ability with a lot of phytoestrogens over time?

(07-25-2012 07:16 PM)HealthLover Wrote: If my liver is not working well could this chain of events happen due to poor liver function?:

1. I ingest a good amount of phytoestrogens with milk thistle and dandelion root.
2. While these block the stronger estrogens at the receptor sites, those stronger estrogens still need to be processed through the liver- which isn't working very well.
3. There is a net effect of an increase in estrogens in the body- phytoestrogens + my normal estrogen.
4. While the dandelion root and milk thistle enhance my liver function, I need a much stronger clearing effect to lesson my body's estrogen load.
5. When ovulation comes, I pass my threshold for estrogen clearing and I feel worse with the dandelion and milk thistle than if I don't have those phytoestrogens in my body.

Is this possible? Or would my normal estrogens only effect me if they are on recpetors? That is, can they be floating around in my body and not affect anything?

Unless the estrogens latch on to estrogen receptors they have no effect on the body. This is why phytoestrogens such as those from soy, red clover, flax seed, etc. help prevent the side effects of estrogens. Since they lock up estrogen receptors they prevent actual estrogens from harming the body.

As for the milk thistle and dandelion, these are supportive to the liver but do not cleanse the liver unless being used as bitters.

Thank you!

You're welcome.

What if I have estrogen dominance, but my estrogen levels themselves are low.

This can happen, but is generally seen after menopause.

If I take a lot of phytoestrogens, I do add to my estrogen load. Is it possible, if my liver is weak, to surpass my liver's clearning ability with a lot of phytoestrogens over time?

Thank you.

This is highly unlikely since the amount of phytoestrogens in the average diet is not near enough to cause any type of significant estrogenic effect. Instead, at those levels the phytoestrogens are anti-estrogenic. The most commonly seen adverse effects of excess phytoestrogens are generally seen in alcoholics. Various alcohols are rich in phytoestrogens such as beer, ouzo, gin and whiskey. Male alcoholics for example can develop breast enlargement and even "beer bellies" that result from the high level of concentrated phytoestrogens in the alcohols. But again, with the general intake of phytoestrogens from diet it would be nearly impossible to get any significant estrogenic effect since the phytoestrogens are not that concentrated in plants. The only problem generally seen from the regular intake of phytoestrogens is some thyroid suppression. Flax seed for example is nearly 4 times higher in phytoestrogens than raw soy, which makes it goitrogenic. The goitrogenic effects of phytoestrogen rich foods though can be easily offset with the consumption of iodine sources such as seaweeds.